Bolt-threading machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

C. E. ROBERTS.

BOLT THRBADING MACHINE. No. 369,963.. Patented Sept. 13, 1887.

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(No Model 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. C. E. ROBERTS.

Y BOLT THRBADING MACHINE.

Patented Sept. 13, 1887.

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CHARLES E. ROBERTS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOLT-TH READING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part f Letters Patent No. 369,963, dated September13, 1887.

Application filed September 28, 1886. Serial No. 214,724.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GHARLEs E. ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States,residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Bolt-Threading Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

In this invention one of my main objects has been to obtain for thescrew or thread cutting dies a full and ample supply of oil at all timeswhile they are operating, and for this purpose I arrange the bolt-holderand the dies ina vertical line upon hollow spindles, through which aconstant and uniform flow of oil may be kept up. One of these spindlesrotates first in one direction` to thread the bolt and then in thereverse direction to draw it out from the die. This reversal of movementis automatic; but the motion may continue for an unlimited time afterthe bolt is freed from the die without injury and until the attendant isready to remove the bolt and insert a fresh one.

The invention further embraces the details of construction and theoperating mechanism hereinafter fully described.

The accompanying drawings show at Figure l a front elevation, and atFig. 2 a side elevation, of my invention. Fig. 3 is a central verticalsection through the spindles. Fig. 4. is a plan of the parts shown inFig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan of the reversing-clutch for changing thedirection of the rotation of the dies. Fig. 6 is a section of the partsshown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a plan of the nut-holding spindle upon theline 7 7 of Fig. 3, and Fig. Sis a bottom View thereof.

In said drawings, W represents the frame of the machine; W, thedriving-pulley, and W the shaft upon which said pulley is mounted.

TVB is a tank or receptacle for the collection of the oiland cuttingsfrom the threading-die, and W* is a pipe leading from this receptacle tothe top of the machine, through which pipe the oil is returned to doduty again by any suitable pump inserted therein, as at W, and drivenfrom the shaft NVZ, as shown. The pipe IVG may be employed to return tothe tank any excess of oil which may be raised by the pump, and both itand the pipe Wmay be supported by standards W7.

The bolt to be threaded is placed in the ma- (No model.)

chine with its head uppermost and within the socket m, formed upon thelower end of a hollow vertical spindle, A, which I term the innerspindle, because it is placed inside of a surrounding spindle, A'. Thisouter spindle tits in a cross-head, A2, which is supported in the frameWV. At either side of the cross-head A2 rise guides A3. Lateral arms A4upon the spindle A extend to these guides, and are provided withanti-friction rollers a. and pins a', which embrace said guides uponopposite sides and prevent any rotation of the outer cylinder, therollers being placed upon the sides of said guides against which thestrain caused by the threading is exerted. As soon as the bolt ispositioned in the socket m, the operator depresses the lever B,fulcrumed in the link B', and thereby lowers both the spindles until thebolt-blank enters the threading-die a upon the upper end of a spindle,C, also hollow, placed immediately below and in line with the spindles Aand A', and rotating in bearings in the frame, and supported verticallyby the collar C. This spindle C is rotated by a bevelgear, C2, upon itslower end, such gear receiving power from one or other of the gears C3C*, with which it constantly meshes, but only one of which communicatesl power at a time. Being loosely mounted upon the main shaft W2, thesegears C'J and C'L are alternately engaged and positively actuated fromsaid shaft by the sliding clutch C5, located between them upon the shaftand feathered thereto, as at c.

When the bolt has been lowered into the die, the operator throws theclutch C5 into engagement with that one of said gears C3 C* which willactuate the spindle C in the right direction (as, for instance, in themachine illustrated with gear C3) by means of the lever C,oscillatingupon the center c,and the operation of threading is begun. This createsat once such friction between the bolt-head and the socket m as resultsin the gradual pulling Adown Without rotation of the upper spindles withthe bolt as the latter is drawn into the die, and such downward movementis continued by both spindles until the regulatingscrew A5 in one of thelateral arms A" strikes the cross-head A2, after which the downwardcourse of the inner spindle is protracted until the clutchingprojections a2 upon theilange c IOO 2 tages of the inner spindle havedrawn out from contact with the clutching project-ions a4 upon the ringa5,secured to the outer spindle. Upon this release taking place theinner spindle and the bolt become free, so that they rotate with thethreader until one of the cams a6, projecting from the inner spindle,comes in contact with the crank-arm D upon the upright shaft D' andoscillates said shaft, causing the lower crank, D2, upon said shaft toact against the spring-lever D3 and bring it to the position shown inFig. 5.` This spring-lever is a horizontal one, being secured at d to astationary part of the machine, and having an inclined surface, d',upon-which said crank D? actsand a bent-up end, d2, which acts as aretainer for said crank. vSaid spring also carries a projection or stop,d3, which up to the time the spring-lever is acted upon by the crankcontacts with'the pin d" upon the lever C, thereby retaining the clutchin engagement with the gear C", but the forcing of the spring-lever intothe position shown in Fig. 5 releases the contact of d3 with d4 andallows the lever C6 to swing in obedience to the spring di and carry theclutch into engagement with the gear C", thereby reversing the rotationof the diecarrying spindle. VIn the meantime, the cam a having passedthe crank-arm D, the shaft D is allowed to return to its first positionunder the impulse of the spring-lever D5, and as the reversing of thethreader withdraws the power transmitted throughv the bolt to thespindle A, said spindle -is then allowed to close its clutch with thespindle A under the power of the spring al.

The reversing of the threader and the stopping of the rotation ofthe'bolt-holding spindie results in forcing the bolt out'from the die,or, in other words, unscrewing it therefrom. This transmits a liftingforce to the upper spindles through the bolt, which of course ends assoon as the bolt has passed entirely out of the die. The rotation of thedie may then continue without injury to the bolt until the attendantfinds time to remove the latter.

I find it-useful to connect a counter-Weight,E, to the upper spindlesthrough the rope e, passing over the pulley E and hook e. The lifting ofthe spindles is thereby rendered very easy, and by balancing them verynearly they are prevented from moving in either direction throughgravity alone.

It will be noticed that the oil is conducted from the pipe N4 to theinterior of the upper spindle, A, by-the pipe WS, and that the passageslw allow it to flow therefrom onto the bolt. In-this manner the bolt maybe kept completely enveloped in a sheet of iiowing oil at all timeswithout difficulty. A valve, W, may be inserted in pipe W8 to controlthe flow. From the die the oil, together with the cuttings, may andpreferably does flow down through the lower spindle, and is dischargedthence into the tank described.

Asit may be desirable at times to deprive the lower spindle of allmotion, I maylock the clutch C5 positively in an intermediate psitionwithout engagement with the gears -at either side by means of aspring-bolt, f, confined in-the lever and adapted to be passed up intothe cavityf in the part of the machineframe upon which the lever isjournaled. This bolt is operated by the pinfandalso fastened down by theentrance of said pin within the lateral enlargement of the slot throughwhich it projects.

Itwill be noticed that the bolt-holding spindles are provided with asingle bearing in the frame at about their vertical center. This leavesthe lower ends free to yield to some extent to lateral strains, or, inother words, renders them slightly elastic. located on opposite sides ofthe spindles and receive equal portions of the strain caused by thethreading, so that if lthe spindles .turn at all under, that strainthey'tu'rn upon their axial line. In this manner the forces' areequalized and the spindles do uot'wear out of true.

It will be further noticed that the mechanism for reversing the rotationof the die does not operate until after the threading is com` plete.This feature enables the clutch to be released from one gear and shiftedto the 0pposite one when there is but little power required at itshands, and the shifting becomes an easy matter.

The rollers a are The threadingis completed, of course, at the time thebolt begins to rotate with the die.

It Will be noticed thattheouterspindle, A', being provided withanti-friction rollers bearing upon its guides A3, is less affected byfriction with said guides under the strain caused by the threading thanis the bolt-head in its socket m; also, that the clutch-faces connectingthe inner and outer spindlesare at a considerable remove from the centerof the spindles, while the bolt-socket is located at such center, andhence the friction between the bolt and socket will be greater than thatbetween the clutch-faces, and the latterl will more readily separatethan the former.

I claim- 1. The combination of the bolt-holder and threading-die, eachcarried by hollow spin- IOO IlO

dle, the gear C, borne on said spindle, the Y gears C3 C, loose upontheir shaft, the sliding double-faced clutch feathered to the sameshaft, and a lever for shifting said clutch, a bolt-holding devicearranged in line with and movable toward said threadingspindle,substantially as specified.

5. The combination of a reversibly-rotating threader, the gears fordriving the same, and the clutch for actuating the gears with thebolt-holding spindles, one of which carries the socket m, and both ofwhich are reciprocated by power transmitted through the bolt, theoscillatory shaft D and its arms, operated by one of the spindles, andthe springlever D, substantially as specified.

6. A bolt-holding spindle which both slides and rotates, a slidingnon-rotating spindle surrounding said bolt-holding spindle, andclutching devices upon said spindles for locking the inner spindleagainst rotation, in combination with the rotating threader impartingsaid movements to said spindles by the power or friction transmittedthrough the bolt being threaded, substantially as specified.

. 7. The sliding bolt-holding spindles A and A', having clutchingdevices, as specified, and the regulating-screw A5, stopping the descentof the outer spindle, in combination with the rotating threader drawingdown said spindles by the power or friction exerted upon the bolt,substantially as specified.

8. rlhe sliding bolt-holding spindles A and A', having clutches, asspecified, the inner spindle being free to rotate when freed from theclutch, and having cam a6, in combination with the oscillatory shaft,the threader, and the intervening mechanism for reversing the latter,substantially as specified.

9. In a bolt-threading machine, the combination of the slidingbolt-holder spindles A and A', having the regulating-screw A5, with thethreader, substantially as specified.

10. The inner spindle having the cam a6, the oscillatory shaft and itscranks, the spring-lever acted upon by said shaft,l the clutch-shiftinglever and its spring, and the clutch, in combination with the threaderand its actuating-gearing, substantially as specified.

1l. The combination of a reversiblyrotating threader with thebolt-holding spindles, one of which carries the socket m, and both ofwhich are reciprocated by power transmitted through the bolt,substantially as specified.

12. In a bolt-threading machine, the combination, with the spindles Aand A', of a counter-weight, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

13. The spindles A and A', one of which carries the bolt-socket m, theclutching devices upon said spindles, and the spring al, acting to closethe clutching devices, in combination with the rotating threader, fromwhich the power to separate said clutch is transmitted through the bolt,substantially as specified.

14. The combination, with inner reciprocating spindle, A, havingcentrally-located socket m, ot' outer spindle, A', surrounding spindleA, and provided with exterior arms having anti-friction rollers bearingupon its guides A3, whereby the friction between the outer spin dle andits guides due to the threading operation is rendered less than thatbetween the bolt-head and the socket m, substantially as specified.

15. The combination, with inner reciprocating spindle, A, and havingsocket m for the bolthead, of outer spindle, A', clutch-faces connectingsaid spindles located outside the bolt-socket, whereby the friction isless between the clutch-faces than between the bolthead and its socket,so that the clutch-faces will separate before the bolt withdraws fromits socket, substantially as specified.

CHARLES E. ROBERTS.

Vitn esses:

l H. M. MUNDAY,

EDMUND ADcocK.

